


At the Top

by SilverStrings



Category: Death Note
Genre: Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 03:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6407644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverStrings/pseuds/SilverStrings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a long and stressful day of investigating, you decide to take some time to decompress. L's curiosity gets the better of him and he finds himself coerced into your rooftop yoga session. Playful banter ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the Top

You were sitting in an isolated chair near the window as you tried to analyze the information held within the file in your hands. Despite having gone through it countless times over the past few hours, it just didn't make any sense. You heaved a frustrated sigh and rubbed your temples before casting your mopey gaze out the window.

The sun was only just rising above the horizon. While you were bathed in it's warming rays, the streets far below you were still shrouded in darkness. When you returned your attention to the papers in your hands, you were still unable to focus on the printed words. After spending a moment to think, you stood and carefully placed the file on a table across the room where L and Matsuda were seated. The Japanese detective raised a confused eyebrow at your actions, while L simply glanced in your direction. You ignored both of men and made your way into the bedroom that housed your suitcase.

After confirming that the room was indeed empty, you closed the door behind you and locked it. You pulled your suitcase out from the closet and quickly sifted through the pieces of clothing inside. Once you located a tank top and a pair of pants that were comfortable and easy to move in, you changed into them. Before returning your suitcase to the closet, you made sure to grab an accessory that you could use to keep your hair from flying into your face. When you were all set, you reemerged from the bedroom. As you looked over to the couch, you saw only Matsuda sitting there. With no sounds coming from the kitchen, you decided that L must have been in the bathroom. You shrugged your shoulders and continued to the front door.

As you turned the handle, Matsuda's curious voice halted you in your tracks.

"Where are you going?"

You pointed to the ceiling above your heads. "Up."

 

You were sitting cross-legged on the roof, palms facing up as they rested on your knees. The breeze lightly tousled your hair as you closed your eyes and began taking slow and steady breaths. As you focused on the air flowing in and out of your lungs, you could feel your buzzing mind calm down. Before you got too far into the meditation, you heard a creak as the door to the roof opened. You cracked an eye open to see L now standing before you. After having deemed that regaining your focus was more important, you shut your eye again and focused on your breathing once more – not that it would satisfy the world's greatest detective.

His voice broke through your peace to ask, "What are you doing up here?"

You opened your eyes and sent him a brief glare. "You know how you always say that the way that you sit helps you stay at the top of your game? Well, meditating and practicing yoga help keep me at the top of mine."

A short silence ensued before he stated, "Increasing my IQ will only help us catch Kira. If you say that these methods do that, it only makes sense that I should know them. I want you to teach them to me."

You rolled your eyes at his word choice, but couldn't help your slight grin. "Alright. Sit down and we'll start with a basic meditation."

As the detective mimicked your way of sitting, you instructed, "Close your eyes and breathe through your nose." When you saw him do so, you continued. "Clear your mind of all thoughts and-"

"Why?"

You peeked over and found him owlishly staring back at you. "You need to calm yourself if you want to focus. You can't get to your top state of mind if you keep thinking."

"If I stop thinking, the case will go unsolved."

Your eyebrows sunk downward as you pointed out, "If you don't relax, your mind will be in a fog, and you won't be able to solve the case because of that."

"I disagree."

Your eyes narrowed as he tested your patience. "Do you want to learn my methods or not? Because, if you don't, you can just go back downstairs and leave me be."

After a few moments of contemplation, he must have decided that improving himself was worth putting up with this strange exercise, because he turned to face forward again and closed his eyes.

You smirked at his submission before closing your own eyes again and continuing your instructions. "The point of meditation is to relax the mind and increase awareness. Take a minute to cast all other thoughts away and only focus on your breathing. Keep it slow and steady."

 

You managed to finish your meditation without so much as another peep from the raven-haired detective. After opening your eyes and letting him know that the meditation was over, you stood.

"That wasn't so bad," L murmured as he joined you.

Immediately after that he turned and began heading toward the door.

"We're not done yet," you cooed, stopping him in his tracks.

"I don't see why not." He turned to face you. "We've cleared our minds. Now let's go."

A smirk rivaling that of the Cheshire cat creeped onto your face as you teased your boss, "So impatient, Ryuzaki. The case can wait."

He raised an unamused eyebrow at your statement as he droned, "And what makes you say that?"

"It's not just our minds that we need to relax to be at the top of our game, but our bodies as well." You put a thoughtful hand to your chin before commenting, "Your mind hardly seems relaxed at all. Maybe we should meditate again."

"What stretches do we have to do?"

You thought for a moment as you took in his hunched form. "Your posture needs a lot of work."

"I disagree."

You put your hands on your hips as you took on a more serious tone. "Ryuzaki, I can tell by the way you move that your back and neck hurt every day. Doing these poses will help that distraction go away over time so that you can focus on more important things."

"Like the Kira case?" he suggested, irritation clear in his voice.

"Yes," you huffed. "But we're doing this now, so no thinking about that."

With his hands in his pockets, L grudgingly returned to your side and groaned, "What do you have in mind?"

"We'll start with a downward dog pose. It's meant to stretch and strengthen the back and the legs," you told him. "Just breath steadily and follow what I do."

He copied your movements as you got down onto your hands and knees like a crawling baby. After stretching your elbows and spreading out your fingers, you lifted your knees off the ground and formed an 'A' shape with your body. As you pushed your arms, you slowly drew your chest toward your thighs, stretching out your spine.

After only a few breaths, L complained, "Blood is rushing to my head. Perhaps I should stop."

You tilted your head to face his and narrowed your eyes as you scrutinized his appearance. "Your face isn't even red. You'll be fine."

Not even thirty seconds later, L spoke up again. "My back feels strange. This can't be good for it."

You rolled your eyes. "Ryuzaki, that's just your back stretching. Now quit making excuses and don't stop until I tell you to."

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see a pout appear on his face, though he continued to do the pose. After a few minutes, you gently bent your knees, returning them to their position on the ground. L did the same. Once you were both standing again, he quietly grumbled to himself about how pointless and easy that exercise was.

Your teasing smirk returned. "What was that, Ryuzaki? You want to do it again?"

He sent a pointed look in your direction, stirring laughter from you. 

After you calmed yourself and wiped your tears, he grumbled, "Are we done yet?"

You rolled your eyes. "One more pose, then we can go back down."

"Let's just get this over with," L moaned.

"Now we're going to do the tree pose," you informed him. "It stretches and strengthens a lot of muscles, but it's also good for improving your balance and ability to focus." Your final word caught his interest as he turned to fully listen. "You need to start with your ankles together, but with your feet forming a 'V' shape. Stick your arms out a bit if you need help balancing like this." Once he mimicked your position, you added, "Now pull your shoulder blades back to straighten out your posture."

You looked over to him to see that – while he had moved them back slightly – his shoulders were still hunched _way_ too far forward. "Ryuzaki, that's nowhere near what I meant. Look at my shoulders and copy that."

When L turned his head to you, he argued, "That is what I'm doing."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

_"No._ It's _not."_

_"Yes._ It _is."_

You narrowed your eyes at him as you returned to a normal standing position. After a quick glance to the wall behind the man, you roughly told him, "Come with me."

Before L could even return to his normal standing position, you hooked your arm around his and dragged him over to the wall. You turned him so that his back was against the cool cement and he faced you.

"Now return to the position," you commanded.

After a moment of hesitation, he put his heels together again and pulled his shoulders back slightly.

You folded your arms. "Now, do you feel the wall on your head?"

He must have caught on to your intention, because his eyes briefly widened and he hesitated before admitting, "No."

Rather than explaining what didn't need to be, you placed your hands on his shoulders and gently rolled them back until they touched the wall and L was standing at his full height.

"Keep your shoulders there," you instructed before backing away and mimicking his position as you faced him.

You shifted your weight onto one foot and lifted the other, placing the sole of your foot on your inner thigh as you pointed your knee out to your side. "If this is too high, you can just put your foot above your ankle and rest your toes on the ground."

Just as you finished your explanation, L mimicked your pose with ease – much to your surprise. You raised an eyebrow, mildly impressed before you recalled that he practiced capoeira, which requires fighting with the legs. Of course his legs would be so flexible.

Following your brief moment of shock, you pressed your palms together, pointing your fingers upward. Once the detective mimicked your hands, you inhaled and lifted your arms above your head. L copied you and the two of you held the pose for a minute before returning your feet to the ground and repeating the process with the other leg lifted. He was surprisingly lacking complaints throughout this exercise.

After another minute, you and L returned to your usual standing positions. Keeping your promise, the two of you began the trek back down to the suite.

Once the two of you were in the elevator alone, he admitted, "My back actually does feel slightly better and my mind sharper."

You smirked at him yet again. "I told you."

L chose to ignore your comment before suggesting, "Perhaps I should join you every time you do this."

You frowned, mind turning back to the case as you told him, "It will be a few times a week."

He smiled at you. "We'll do it Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday – time permitting."

Your lips curved upward. "Sounds like a plan."


End file.
